Chapter 59 Did you see the look on Secretary Song's face?
The cold atmosphere at the dinner table was slightly warmed up by Song Xingzhi's gentle words.
Zhang Chunxue's eyes were still red, but the pent-up anger in her heart seemed to have been mostly extinguished by the spring rain.
Apart from Zhong Chengren, who felt extremely uncomfortable during the meal, everyone else ate relatively peacefully.
When the dishes were scattered and the night was deep, Song Xingzhi got up to take his leave.
"Sister Chunxue, I've finished eating, it's time for me to head back."
Zhang Chunxue quickly stood up: "Let me see you out, Secretary Song."
She escorted him all the way to the gate of the courtyard, where the dim light cast long shadows of the two of them.
The night breeze carried a slight chill, dispersing some of the smell of alcohol.
Song Xingzhi stopped and smiled sincerely: "Sister Chunxue, the food tonight was really delicious."
Zhang Chunxue felt a sweet warmth in her heart after being praised like that, and a genuine smile appeared on her face: "If Secretary Song likes to eat it, just tell me if you want to eat it in the future. I'll make it for you anytime, and you can come to our house to eat."
Song Xingzhi looked at her, his eyes filled with a hint of inquiry and a subtle tenderness. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, with a touch of teasing: "What if I want to eat this for the rest of my life?"
Zhang Chunxue's heart skipped a beat, pounding against her chest like she was holding a rabbit.
Her cheeks flushed instantly, as if dyed by the sunset, the color spreading all the way to her ears.
I felt a mix of panic and inexplicable anticipation.
She lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. After a long while, she mustered her courage and spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet with a hint of resolute determination: "Then... then if you really want to eat this for the rest of your life... then at worst... I'll... I'll cook it for you for the rest of your life!"
As soon as she said those words, Zhang Chunxue felt her face burning hot, wishing she could disappear into the ground.
Upon hearing this, Song Xingzhi's eyes suddenly lit up, as if two flames had been lit in the darkness, and his joy was almost overflowing from his eyes.
He laughed heartily, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement: "I'll remember that, Sister Chunxue! You can't go back on your word!"
Zhang Chunxue felt even more embarrassed by his gaze, and just nodded haphazardly, but her heart felt as sweet as if it had been filled with honey.
Since their three sons were still in the main room, Zhang Chunxue and Song Xingzhi couldn't say anything private at the door.
After a brief chat about village affairs, Song Xingzhi bowed and took his leave.
"Sister Chunxue, please wait, I'm leaving."
"Take care, Clerk Song."
Song Xingzhi's figure quickly disappeared into the night.
He hadn't gone far from the alley entrance when he saw several women sitting in the shadows under the big banyan tree at the village entrance, enjoying the cool moonlight and chattering away.
He didn't want to pay attention to it and wanted to go around it.
But one sharp-eyed person spotted him immediately.
One of the gossipy women, who was always fond of spreading rumors, raised her voice, her tone laced with a hint of sarcastic probing: "Oh my, isn't this Secretary Song? Where have you been coming from so late?"
Another immediately chimed in, his tone full of doubt and disdain: "Secretary Song, that old hag Zhang Chunxue spent ages bragging at the village entrance today, saying you're going to her house for dinner tonight!"
"She's definitely just bragging, right? How could you possibly eat at someone like her?"
Song Xingzhi stopped in his tracks.
His face gradually darkened in the hazy moonlight, and his eyes sharpened.
He turned around, looking coldly at the whispering women, his voice like ice: "I just came from Sister Chunxue's house. And I did have dinner there. What, is there a problem?"
The smug smile on the gossipy woman's face froze instantly, as if she had been slapped in the face in public, her expression a mix of emotions.
The other women also fell silent for a moment, exchanging bewildered glances.
Song Xingzhi swept his cold gaze over them: "If you guys are really bored and have nothing to do all day, why don't you go to the edge of the village and help turn over that wasteland?"
"It also saves us from spending all day gossiping behind other people's backs and spreading rumors about them!"
"Can gossip produce food or money?"
After saying that, Song Xingzhi didn't wait for their reaction, nor did he care to see their embarrassed expressions. He snorted coldly and strode away.
Only a few gossipy women remained under the banyan tree, looking at each other, their faces turning pale and then red, unable to utter a single word for a long time. Their previous enthusiasm for gossiping had long since vanished after Song Xingzhi's few words.
Song Xingzhi's figure disappeared into the darkness. Under the banyan tree, the gossipy women seemed to have just been pulled out of ice water, shivering as they recovered.
We looked at each other, our expressions more varied than a carousel.
The previous enthusiasm for gossiping had been completely shattered by Song Xingzhi's barbed words, leaving not a trace.
After a long while, a woman who usually had a high-pitched voice lowered her voice, as if afraid of being overheard, and whispered:
"My God, did you see the look on Secretary Song's face?"
"It was as black as the bottom of a pot, it was terrifying!"
Another person also pondered this, saying, "He...he's really protecting that old hag Zhang Chunxue, isn't he?"
"That's absolutely right!"
"He even said he was going to her house for dinner! Tsk tsk!"
Among the crowd, a middle-aged woman named Zhong Jingui had the worst complexion, as if she had swallowed a dead fly.
Her lips trembled, her eyes flashed with sparks of jealousy and resentment, and her voice trembled slightly: "Could it be...could it be that this Secretary Song really...really has taken a liking to Zhang Chunxue?"
Upon hearing this, the women around looked at each other, all seeing disbelief in each other's eyes.
Zhong Jingui felt as if someone had stabbed her hard in the heart with an awl, causing her to gasp for breath in pain.
Her thoughts immediately drifted back to more than a decade ago, when Song Xingzhi had just been sent down to their village as an educated youth.
At that time, Song Xingzhi was young, handsome, fair-skinned, and refined. He was completely different from the mud-rooted men in the village, as if he had stepped out of a painting.
Zhong Jingui was once considered the most beautiful girl in the village, and she believed she was quite attractive.
She once mustered up a lot of courage and, during a group labor activity, blushed and hinted to Song Xingzhi in front of many people that she wanted to date him.
To everyone's surprise, Song Xingzhi didn't even raise an eyelid. His voice was cold, and he decisively rejected her in front of everyone.
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